


Can't Fight This Feeling

by mldrgrl



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23282140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mldrgrl/pseuds/mldrgrl
Summary: A little post-ep for The Rain King
Relationships: Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 16
Kudos: 134





	Can't Fight This Feeling

Despite the break in the weather, they were not getting a flight out of Kroner until the morning. Scully huffed and grumbled as she drove them back to the motel, but quickly resigned to their fate with a sigh and announced that she was calling dibs on the shower when they got in.

“You can’t just call dibs like that,” he argued. “We’re not even in the room yet.”

“I can, and did. There’s no rule on where I can call dibs, you just have to be the first.”

“Not true. You have to be within access to the thing you’re calling dibs on.”

“I am within access, I’m two minutes away. Besides, it’s my room.”

“Our room.”

“ _ My _ room. You could always go back to yours.”

“Mine has a dead cow on the bed and no roof. In fact, you probably couldn’t even call it a room anymore, more like an open-air slaughter house.”

“You could always sleep in the car.”

“Scully, I have an idea. How about when we get back, you take the first shower.”

She scoffed as they pulled into the parking lot. The car rolled to a stop in front of the room and Scully shut the engine off. Mulder got out of the car first and hovered by the door, loosening his tie while he waited for her to unlock it. As soon as they got inside, she went about collecting items for her shower and he plopped down in the chair in the corner.

While Scully showered, Mulder turned over his conversation with Holman in his mind. He thought about unrequited love, the fear of taking risks, and how those suppressed feelings could manifest in ways no one could understand. He was so lost in thought he didn’t even realize Scully had finished her shower and was standing in the middle of the room in her pajamas and a towel-turned-turban wrapped on her head.

“Mulder?”

“Hm?” He looked up at her in surprise.

“I said your name three times. Where were you?”

“Thinking.”

“What about?”

He shrugged a little and then smiled when he noticed she was barefoot and that her toenails were painted a rosy shade of pink. The cuffs of her flannel pajamas were also too long and they were caught under her heels.

“You ever been to a high school reunion?” he asked.

“No, I can’t say that I have.”

“Why not?”

“Have you?”

“No.” He got up from the chair and inspected the clock radio on the nightstand. He fiddled with the tuner, scrolling in and out of static and ads for farm equipment. “Did you go to prom? Homecoming?”

“Sure.”

“You remember the theme? The big song that year that everyone knew and couldn’t wait for?”

“I seem to recall the theme to Fame being especially popular. Something by Air Supply as well.”

“Saturday Night Fever came out the year I graduated. Or maybe the year before.”

“I bet that was very influential.”

“Let’s just say, there were a lot of white tuxes that year.”

Finally, a station came through that seemed promising. Mulder recognized the prominent keyboard and high-pitched vocals of an REO Speedwagon song right away. He smiled and crossed over to Scully. She raised her brows at him and crossed her arms.

“Come on, Scully,” he said, extending a hand out to her. “I can’t fight this feeling anymore.”

“What?”

“The song.” He inclined his head back towards the radio for a moment. “Dance with me.”

“Why?”

“Call it the high school reunion we never got around to.”

With some hesitation, Scully uncrossed her arms and then put her hand in Mulder’s. He pulled her in towards him and then put his arm around her waist. Dancing together at a Cher concert in an auditorium full of people was distinctly different than dancing alone in a motel room.

“This is weird,” she said.

“Why?”

She looked down at where she was treading on the cuffs of her pants. “I’m in my pajamas, for one thing.”

“I can strip down to my skivvies if you think it’ll be more balanced.”

She chuckled and her cheeks darkened a bit. He squeezed her hand and pulled her a little closer. His chin bumped the towel-turban on her head and he let go of her for a few moments to unwind it and threw it to the side. She shook her head a little to keep her wet hair from her face.

“What’d you say to Sheila tonight?” he asked when they settled back into their slow dance. “To get her to give Holman a chance?”

“I don’t know.”

“You had to have said something.”

“I just...pointed out to her that sometimes friends, best friends, can also make for…”

“For what?”

“I don’t know,” she said quickly. “And what advice did you profess to Holman?”

“Only that he should tell Sheila how he felt. Before he flooded the whole town.”

“Mulder, I shouldn’t have to remind you that people can’t control the weather, especially with their emotions.”

Scully looked up at him and Mulder chuckled. The song faded and they stood still, staring at each other. I do not gaze at Scully, he heard himself telling Holman. A lie if he ever heard one. He could gaze at her all day long. She cocked her head.

“Mulder? What’re you thinking?”

“Uh, I was thinking...that...that Holman was pretty brave tonight.”

“Brave?”

“Some things are easier said than done. He mustered up the courage and it worked out in the end.”

“It only took him, what, twenty years?”

“Still. I…”

“This is it!” she blurted, turning her head away.

“What?”

“That Air Supply song.”

Mulder looked at the radio and listened for a moment. Sure enough, Air Supply’s All Out of Love was playing. Scully closed her eyes with a smile and her head swayed for a moment before she leaned in and rested her cheek against his chest. He brought their clasped hands up next to her face and shuffled his feet along with hers again.

“What’re you thinking of?” Mulder whispered along with the song.

“I told Sheila that the best relationships are often rooted in friendship,” Scully answered, after the crescendo.

“I think that can be true.”

“I told her that sometimes...you can see something in someone that wasn’t there the day before.”

“Also true.”

Scully lifted her head and her eyes traveled over Mulder’s face, to his mouth, and back up. “She told me you were a good kisser.”

“I didn’t kiss her, she kissed me.”

“Mulder…”

He let go of her hand and reached up to hold her face. She tipped her head to one side and he bent towards her, but just as his lips grazed hers she began to laugh and he froze. She dropped her forehead to his chest and then shook her head from side to side.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry, I just suddenly pictured you at your prom in a white tux like Saturday Night Fever and I…” 

He started chuckling as well and ran a hand up and down her back. She put her arms around his middle and hugged him tight.

“I guess it’s my turn in the shower, huh?” 

“I even left some hot water for you.”

“Yeah, but a cold shower might not be a bad idea right now.”

Scully pulled out of his embrace and he smirked at her. She rolled her eyes at him and stepped away. He finally pulled his tie off as she lowered the volume on the radio. They bumped into each other as he tried to collect his toiletry kit from his suitcase and she tried to pull the covers down on the bed.

“Sorry,” he said, stepping around her to make his way to the bathroom. “Close quarters.”   
  


“Mulder.” She paused and sat down on the left corner of the bed with one leg tucked beneath her. “It won’t take twenty years to get this right, will it?”

His heart stopped and the toiletry bag nearly slipped from his hands. He shook his head a little too quickly and then crossed the room towards her. Her eyes followed his as he crouched down in front of her. He gazed at her, openly, and she gazed back. Heart hammering against his chest, he stretched towards her. Her lips parted slightly as he got closer and there was a slight hitch in her breath, but she didn’t laugh this time when his mouth brushed hers. They both went still for the next moment and then she reached up with both hands to hold his face. He kissed her again, not so softly this time, leaning into it and her until she whimpered slightly and scratched her fingers into his nape.

They both took a few moments to breathe when he pulled away. He was the first to open his eyes and he nuzzled her cheek before he stood.

“Gonna go take that cold shower now,” he said, voice just above a husky whisper. “Keep the bed warm for me?”

Scully nodded, heavy-lidded and pink-cheeked. “Mulder,” she said, stopping him just as he reached the bathroom door.

“Yeah?”

“Sheila has no idea how right she was.”

His lips quirked up and quivered slightly.

“Hurry back,” she said, just before he closed the door.

The End


End file.
